NBA sideline reporter Craig Sager passed away on Thursday. The Batavia, Illinois-born sports fanatic was 65 and had worked for Turner Network Television since 1981. He was known for his colorful wardrobe, thorough questions, and appearances on CNN and TBS.

Sager was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2014, a debilitating cancer of the blood cells and bone marrow. Despite the grim news, the sportscaster maintained his infectious positive attitude and upbeat outlook. Here is some of the best advice Sager shared with the world:

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“What has hit me is to see the support and the love and attention I have received. It has been so encouraging hearing the things that people have said about me. Usually, that happens at your funeral. I think what has helped as much as anything is to hear people say that leukemia picked the wrong person to fool with.”

“Time is something that cannot be bought, it cannot be wagered with God, and it is not an endless supply...I will never give up, and I will never give in. I will continue to keep fighting, sucking the marrow out of life as life sucks the marrow out of me. I will live my life full of love and full of fun. It’s the only way I know how."

“I grew up in Batavia, Illinois, a small town out in the corn fields, west of Chicago. It was boring. For our senior picture, they said, ‘black or navy blazer.’ And I thought, Why do I want to look like everybody else? I was a big fan of The Monkees, and I had this electric blue nehru jacket, like one Micky would wear. So I wore that and showed up and they said, ‘We told you: a blue or black sportcoat.’ I argued that it was actually blue, created a little controversy. But, now, you look at the yearbook and everyone looks exactly the same. Except for me.”

ESPY Awards, July 2016

On life:

“If I’ve learned anything through all of this, it’s that each and every day is a canvas, waiting to be painted — an opportunity for love, for fun, for living, for learning.”

ESPY Awards, July 2016

On persistence:

“I spent the next several months sending out resume tapes to television stations all over the country for a variety of on-air jobs in news, sports and weather. My mailbox quickly filled up with rejection letters, some going so far as to let me know that I would never be on television. I kept every single letter, not so much as an incentive to become better at my craft, but as a reminder of those who doubted me.”